Yeah, Campbell was converted to guard. I don't know if Hoke will switch him back or not. Though UM's last big name converted guard worked out pretty well (Steve Hutchinson).

I think the D will be much better next year. Not necessarily because of the scheme, but moreso just having older players. My main concern is how far will the offense regress. I was hoping DB would open the checkbook and they'd hire a big name spread coordinator to keep things going smoothly, but it looks like Hoke is bringing his OC with him...

January 13th, 2011, 4:43 pm

thelomasbrowns

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2482

Re: Hoke Named UM Coach

Blueskies wrote:

Yeah, Campbell was converted to guard. I don't know if Hoke will switch him back or not. Though UM's last big name converted guard worked out pretty well (Steve Hutchinson).

I think the D will be much better next year. Not necessarily because of the scheme, but moreso just having older players. My main concern is how far will the offense regress. I was hoping DB would open the checkbook and they'd hire a big name spread coordinator to keep things going smoothly, but it looks like Hoke is bringing his OC with him...

That would be like saying Schwartz should've hired a Tampa 2 coordinator. Hoke is moving in a different direction but seems aware of the need to tailor a system to the players that are here.

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

January 13th, 2011, 5:18 pm

wjb21ndtown

Re: Hoke Named UM Coach

Blueskies wrote:

Yeah, Campbell was converted to guard. I don't know if Hoke will switch him back or not. Though UM's last big name converted guard worked out pretty well (Steve Hutchinson).

I think the D will be much better next year. Not necessarily because of the scheme, but moreso just having older players. My main concern is how far will the offense regress. I was hoping DB would open the checkbook and they'd hire a big name spread coordinator to keep things going smoothly, but it looks like Hoke is bringing his OC with him...

I hope the offense doesn't regress at all! They didn't have any seniors in key positions last year. They are all going to be "one year older" and presumably better as well. They're losing one Sr. OG, and one Sr. OT. Everyone else should be back on offense and be better than they were last year. I realize that there will likely be some growing pains, but the new offense should be more simple and easier to run. Hopefully their talents and maturation will shine. The the offense DOES regress I will be wondering why we don't run RR's offense with our current personnel. If it is obviously better we should run it.

The defense scares me some because they're losing two of their best players Martin and Mouton, their best DB in James Rogers, and a good LB in Ezeh. I never really liked Ezeh much, and Kenny Demens should be able to step into his place nicely, but the other three are going to hurt! Thankfully we will be getting some DBs back from injury next year.

One thing I'm really looking forward to is... HAVING A KICKING GAME!!!

January 13th, 2011, 5:41 pm

thelomasbrowns

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2482

Re: Hoke Named UM Coach

wjb21ndtown wrote:

One thing I'm really looking forward to is... HAVING A KICKING GAME!!!

To me, that is the most bizarre thing about the RR era.

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

That would leave only a few spots on Hoke’s staff open, including coaches for the quarterbacks and wide receivers. Logical candidates would be former U-M assistants Scot Loeffler and Erik Campbell, who worked under Hoke mentor Carr. Loeffler was not retained by new Florida coach Will Muschamp. Campbell, a U-M grad and longtime assistant, is Iowa’s wide receivers coach.

Multiple media outlets reported Hoke’s brother, Jon Hoke, a defensive backs coach for the Chicago Bears, said he hasn’t talked to his brother about becoming an assistant. Brady Hoke is said to know Jon prefers pro football.

MOVING ON FROM U-M: Indiana football coach Kevin Wilson has hired three new assistants and reshuffled his staff. Rod Smith and Grey Frey spent the last three seasons as assistants at Michigan. Smith coached quarterbacks at U-M. He’ll serve as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, while Frey will coach the offensive line.

After days of speculation fused with “no comment” dismissals from Denard Robinson in regards to his future in Ann Arbor, new Michigan coach Brady Hoke has told both 107.3 WBBL FM in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg that Robinson will remain with the Maize and Blue.

“Yes. I don’t question that at all,” Hoke told Rittenberg.

“We’ve had great conversations. I’m so impressed with him as a kid and his humility and his vision and his love for Michigan. So that’s been real positive. It’s just fun being around him. He wants a Michigan degree and he feels very good about Michigan.”

Hoke reportedly spoke with Robinson yesterday and today, likely about the sophomore’s future with the Wolverines’ offense. It will be interesting to hear Robinson’s side of these conversations — given if and/or when he decides to speak about it. Apparently, though, the answers were good enough for one of college football’s most explosive athletes, and potential Heisman candidate, to stick around.

“Offensively, you never want to put a square peg in a round hole,” Hoke said. “We understand that when you have play makers, you’ve got to be able to utilize them to their fullest so that they’re going to help your football team. With Denard, his capabilities, obviously he’s a tremendous athlete that can do a lot of things for you on offense.”

Despite schematic differences, Hoke clearly has an offensive plan that utilizes Robinson’s ability. It’s another quality of good coaching that sets the former Michigan assistant apart from his predecessor, Rich Rodriguez, who upon his arrival in Ann Arbor, clearly had no interest in working with some freshman quarterback named Ryan Mallett.

Brady Hoke is living the dream, back at the school he loves and this time, sitting in the head coach's chair. After impressing a lot of folks at his introductory news conference Wednesday at Michigan, Hoke spent most of Thursday meeting with his new players.

I caught up with the new Michigan coach late Thursday afternoon.

Here's the first half of my interview with Hoke.

What has stood out to you about the first couple days at Michigan?

Brady Hoke: It's been great. The people have been great. Dave Brandon, I can't say enough about his organization, his leadership, going through all the things you have to. I've got a new cell phone, so I've got to learn that, it's a little different than the old one. It's been a tremendous two days because I got to meet with about 30 of our players. That's a huge piece of what we need to do. It's been great, and we're just going to be busy, but that's what you sign up for and that's what you love about it.

What have those meetings been like with the players? Are you doing the talking? Are they?

BH: It's a great give-and-take. I want to make sure we're crystal clear on the direction we want to go. They have to understand the goal of the program and how we're going to go about achieving that goal, the accountability to each other, the toughness that we want to play the game with, the mentality we want to play the game with and the demeanor that you play the game with. We're very excited about everything that's gone on.

We heard a lot [Wednesday] about your passion for the job and how much Michigan means to do. How does that help you from this point forward?

BH: You coach because you get to be a mentor and an influence to kids. When you're doing it at a place that you have high regard for and you're humbled by and where you're privileged to work, you want to make sure you're putting your best foot forward on a daily basis.

How much does understanding the rivalries and making them a big deal help you guys toward winning them more often?

BH: It is a huge part. When you look at Michigan football and the tradition and the great rivalry with Ohio and the rivalry in state with Michigan State, coach [Jim] Tressel and coach [Mark] Dantonio both are outstanding football coaches with outstanding staffs and have done tremendous jobs. You look at the rivalry with Notre Dame that's been played over the years. It's a big part of the tradition. It's a big part of what Michigan football is.

How far away are you from winning those games more often?

BH: I hope we're about six months away. We're excited about the kids that are in this program and excited about getting down to the techniques and the fundamentals and coaching the game with them. We're excited about the winter conditioning and all the things that go along with it. We're just ecstatic to be here. We're moving in the right direction as far as trying to get things accomplished. The recruiting part of it right now is a big piece, obviously, and part of that recruiting is talking to each guy on this football team and also those guys out there who have a love for Michigan.

Do you feel like you have to recruit Denard [Robinson]?

BH: I don't feel that way. We've had great conversations. I'm so impressed with him as a kid and his humility and his vision and his love for Michigan. So that's been real positive. It's just fun being around him. He's a guy who wants a Michigan degree and he feels very good about Michigan.

Do you expect him to be with you guys going forward?

BH: Yes. I don't question that at all.

How do you adjust to his talents?

BH: Offensively, you never want to put a square peg in a round hole. We understand that when you have playmakers, you've got to be able to utilize them to their fullest so that they're going to help your football team. With Denard, his capabilities, obviously he's a tremendous athlete that can do a lot of things for you on offense. He'll be the lead part of that offense.

"Yes, yes," Hoke told the "The Huge Show" on WBBL-FM (107.3) when asked whether Robinson will stay. "Yeah, we've had great conversations. I'll tell you, he is a tremendous young man, and the humbleness that he has shown is something that we're proud to have him, obviously."

Robinson is a crucial piece to whatever offense Michigan runs under Hoke because of his extraordinary running ability and big-play passing game.

Rushing for 1,702 yards and 14 touchdowns and throwing for 2,570 and 18 touchdowns, Robinson won the Big Ten Silver Football MVP Award and was Big Ten offensive player of the year.

Hoke had said during interviews earlier Thursday, including one in which he praised Robinson's "throwing skills," that he would meet with Robinson for the second time in two days. Robinson appeared comfortable Wednesday night at the Michigan basketball game against Ohio State when he received a standing ovation.

"One thing I can tell you, he wants to have a Michigan degree when he's done here, and he wants to be a guy who's part of a great football team and a great tradition," Hoke said.

Now comes the logical next question: What offense will Michigan run under Hoke?

'Denard fits right in there'By hiring a defensive coach like Brady Hoke, there's an expectation that Michigan's defense will drastically improve, regardless of the coordinator.

But on offense, where U-M is full of returning starters who have spent the past three seasons in the spread option under Rich Rodriguez, there is sure to be a major adjustment, no matter what system is run.

Hoke, who will bring San Diego State offensive coordinator Al Borges to U-M according to the San Diego Union-Tribune, said Thursday he will remain flexible.

"First and foremost, you want to make sure you're utilizing your personnel in the best way," Hoke said Thursday morning on WTKA-AM (1050). "You don't want to put a square peg in a round hole. Sometimes coaches make the mistake that 'I'm going to do what I need to do no matter what.' Sometimes you've got to step back from that.

"With the staff that will be here and the offense that will be here, we want to be an offense that will be physical at the line of scrimmage and have a toughness to us that permeates throughout the program, and there's different ways to do things when you say that. There's the spread, there's different types of spreads. There's two-back formations and multiple personnel-group formations, and we've been able -- because of the personnel -- to do a lot of those different things. Denard (Robinson) fits right in there with what we like to do."

The part of the answer Michigan fans will like the most? The end.

With Hoke's news later Thursday on "The Huge Show" on WBBL-FM (107.3) that Robinson is staying at U-M, now comes the implementation.

If history is a guide, Hoke's personal offensive role likely will be limited, primarily instilling toughness and physicality, especially on the offensive line, which he has studied for years as a defensive line coach.

"He believes in running the football and taking care of the line of scrimmage," said Ball State radio analyst Mark O'Connell, Hoke's teammate as a player at Ball State.

Yet Hoke is determined to integrate Robinson's talents into the offense.

On ESPN's "College Football Live," Hoke said: "We want to be able to run the football, whether it's with the quarterback or with a back in the backfield."

Considering the rare occasions San Diego State quarterback Ryan Lindley ran, this clearly will be a hybrid of the West Coast offense Hoke's teams ran the past two years.

Hoke's coaching track record at Ball State and San Diego State has been to find someone who can effectively run the offense and let him work.

After starting at Ball State in 2003 and instituting a passing offense, it slowly improved but didn't take a major leap until former Michigan assistant Stan Parrish was brought in as quarterbacks coach in 2005 and the offensive coordinator in 2006. Quarterback Nate Davis developed into one of the nation's best, and the team went 12-1 in 2008.

Landing Borges for the San Diego State job showed Hoke had little concern about a powerful coordinator and let him work. Borges' previous job was guiding the Auburn offense, where he was credited with much of the success for the 2004 team that went 13-0.

Immediately at SDSU, Borges took a quarterback, Lindley, who had worked only in shotgun situations, and put him under center in what became a version of the West Coast offense. Borges is a Bill Walsh disciple, all the way down to rigidly scripting his first 15 plays each game.

He has been through the first-year West Coast adjustments previously, coming to Indiana in 2002 after Antwaan Randle El's option game and following Chuck Long's spread offense at San Diego State.

"You've got to find a way to make the pieces fit the first year or so," said James Bates, an analyst for the Mountain West television network. "It's one of those deals -- just a guess -- knowing (Borges') personality, he's had so much success, he doesn't need too much tinkering."

Bates said Hoke and Borges are "not too proud of themselves to tweak some things," but figured Borges would stay with the West Coast style and look for a primary "bellcow" tailback to run the ball 20-25 times per game.

That could be a challenge finding that balance with Robinson, who finished among the nation's top-five rushers as a quarterback last season.

A passing game could work well with U-M's heavy upperclass talent at receiver -- Darryl Stonum, Junior Hemingway and Roy Roundtree have all shown big-play ability -- but would require more development from Robinson.

Bates, who played at Florida, compared it a bit to the reverse when Urban Meyer succeeded Ron Zook. Meyer wanted to run a spread but adapted for the first two seasons, meshing Chris Leak's passing ability into the spread system. After Leak left, it became a full-blown spread with Tim Tebow.

Potentially, Bates said, this might work in reverse at U-M.

At this point, it all remains theory, with no idea how Hoke will fill in the staff and what outside ideas will be imparted. But, even with his limited offensive involvement, O'Connell knows one part of Robinson's game that can't be repeated: untimely interceptions.

"That's one of the things about Brady," O'Connell said. "He talks about playing fast, smart, physical football where you can't make mistakes. He will only put kids in (offensive) positions to have success."

Contact MARK SNYDER: msnyder@freepress.com. Read more in his Wolverines blog at freep.com/wolverinesblog and follow him on Twitter @freepwolverines.

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

Mr. Hoke has cleared one recruiting obstacle by retaining DRob, lets hope they use him effectively and this is not all coachspeak. I believe with his initial comments he is a lot more adaptable then his predecessor was, at least he knows what square pegs and round holes are. It will be interesting to see if Loeffler comes back to coach the QBs, didn't he leave Michigan to go coach Tebow? Cannot remember Campbell as the WR coach.

_________________"When you eat crow, if you put barbecue on it, it's not so bad."-Brady Hoke

Bates said Hoke and Borges are "not too proud of themselves to tweak some things," but figured Borges would stay with the West Coast style and look for a primary "bellcow" tailback to run the ball 20-25 times per game.

This makes sense, instead of having DRob run the ball 25-30 times a game lets have a bonafide tailback and let DRob run it around 10-15 times a game to keep everyone honest. Some play action and motion offense would be interesting to incorporate into the offense as well, along with some fullback/TE led runs.

_________________"When you eat crow, if you put barbecue on it, it's not so bad."-Brady Hoke

January 14th, 2011, 12:53 pm

thelomasbrowns

Pro Bowl Player

Joined: August 24th, 2010, 9:54 pmPosts: 2482

Re: Hoke Named UM Coach

grgrundge wrote:

Quote:

Bates said Hoke and Borges are "not too proud of themselves to tweak some things," but figured Borges would stay with the West Coast style and look for a primary "bellcow" tailback to run the ball 20-25 times per game.

This makes sense, instead of having DRob run the ball 25-30 times a game lets have a bonafide tailback and let DRob run it around 10-15 times a game to keep everyone honest. Some play action and motion offense would be interesting to incorporate into the offense as well, along with some fullback/TE led runs.

Having a mobile quarterback in the WCO can definitely work--everybody will point to Vick this year, but Steve Young is another good example.

_________________Jim Caldwell, on whether Jim Harbaugh is stealing his thunder: "Me? I don't have any thunder."

January 14th, 2011, 1:15 pm

The Legend

Off. Coordinator – Joe Lombardi

Joined: February 11th, 2005, 3:01 pmPosts: 4030Location: WSU

Re: Hoke Named UM Coach

wjb wrote:

Quote:

The defense scares me some because they're losing two of their best players Martin and Mouton, their best DB in James Rogers, and a good LB in Ezeh. I never really liked Ezeh much, and Kenny Demens should be able to step into his place nicely, but the other three are going to hurt! Thankfully we will be getting some DBs back from injury next year.

One thing I'm really looking forward to is... HAVING A KICKING GAME!!!

Martin is actually good and will be coming back, he did not have a great season and I expect him to be better under Hoke. Mouton was decent at LB, definitely had his moments where he looked pretty good. Ezeh was HORRIBLE. Demens is a big upgrade moving forward though he wasnt great this year he had LB instincts. Rogers was their best DB but still wasnt very good, Troy Woolfolk who was supposed to be their best DB will be back. Im not expecting much out of the returning DBs or LBs but I think Hoke will be able to get something out of the DL. Roh should go back to the DL for good, Martin should be a beast inside - those 2 will be the anchors of the defense.

Last edited by The Legend on January 15th, 2011, 2:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.